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( t/ Jr , vi . - 


n E P () II T 

OF THE 

* L SUPERINTENDENT 

' 

TO 

The Board of Directors 

OF THE 

PERUVIAN PETROLEUM COMPANY, 


OB 1 NEW YORK. 


NEW YORK: 

L. H. BIGLOW & CO., PRINTERS & STATIONERS, No. 13 WILLIAM STREET. 


1866. 






























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/ Map of the 0 i 1 Lands 

-OP THE- 

PERUVIAN PETROLEUM 
COM PAN V. 


S echura 


?)Kx \\v 
S’L.CWVi’iRvfcJjj 


























































REPORT 


OF THE 


GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT 


The Board of Directors 

OF THE 

PERUVIAN PETROLEUM COMPANY, 

« \ 

OF NEW YORK. 



/ 


i Or 00a/ g 

U. S. A. 



NEW YORK: 

L. H. BIGLOW & CO., PRINTERS & STATIONERS, No. 13 WILLIAM STREET. 


1866. 










































empanta peruana tic |jctroIco T 


(THE PERUVIAN PETROLEUM CO.) 


CAPITAL, 


- $ 5 , 000 , 000 . 


Shares $ LOO each,. 


OFFICERS; 


President, - 
Vice-President, 
Treasurer, - 
Secretary, 

Genl Superintend't, 


Geo. H. Bissell, 

James Bishop, 

James A. Williamson, 

J. Q. Aymar Williamson, 
Ethan B. Larkin. 


DIRECTORS, 

Geo. H. Bissell, James Bishop, 

Ethan P. Larkin, James A. Williamson, 

J. Q. Aymar Williamson, John P. Hardenbergh, 

Alexander Buden. 


jD FFICE IN J^EW yORK, - - j^O. 3 REAVER jSTREET, 


AND IN PERU, 


j±T y OR RITOS, ON THE j^ANDS OF THE jSo. 


The Lands comprise over 4,000.000 Acres, 

Being - the whole of the Estate of Mancora, and all the known Petroleum 

Property in South America. 















ii:? ti 




'Co rr 



OT THE P. P. CO. at ZORRITOS . 





















REPORT. 


To the Board of Directors of the “Compania Peruana de 
Petroleo” (.Peruvian Petroleum Company): 

Gentlemen : 

The magnitude of your Oil Territory in South America, the 
increasing consumption of refined Petroleum in Peru, Chili and 
Ecuador, and the proximity to large foreign markets, have in¬ 
duced your Superintendent in his first report to describe more 
minutely than would have been otherwise necessary, the geograph¬ 
ical situation, geological character, and natural advantages and 
disadvantages to be met with in developing the territory and 
conducting this grand enterprise to success. 

These Oil Lands form the foot hills of the Cordillera from Cape 
Blanco to the low range that constitue the southern boundary of 
the Tumbez Valley. They begin at the “quebrada” de Charan, 
about ten miles south of the Tumbez Biver, and extend along 
the coast to a “quebrada” a little south of Cape Blanco—a dis¬ 
tance of about forty leagues, and averaging about twenty leagues 
in width; thus giving an area of 800 square leagues, equal to 
7,200 square miles, or 4,408,000 acres. 

The northern portion of this vast tract, where the Company 
have commenced operations, is easily accessible to Tumbez, which 
is connected with Paita to the south and Guayaquil and Panama 
to the north, by Steamers three times a month, and through mails 
bring New York correspondence in sixteen days. 

CLIMATE. 

The Company’s works at Zorritos (about 20 miles to the south 
of the Tumbez Biver) are near the southern terminus of the 
Equatorial Bain Belt. 



6 



/ 




This great Zone of perpetual rain moves regularly north and 
south with the advancement and withdrawal of the S. E. trade 
winds and the variation of the seasons. Its southern margin os¬ 
cillates between 3° 30' N. and 3° S., giving alternately a rainy 
and a dry season. 

At Zorritos it generally rains a few nights during the two winter 
months of January and February. Although at times, an interval 
of two or three years passes with scarcely a shower, on the 
other hand, the margin occasionally extends further to the south, 
enveloping Zorritos for three months in the tropical rains. 

During the months of December, January, February and 
March of last year, there were occasional night-showers; but not 
a day were the regular operations of the Company interrupted by 
inclement weather. 

The Temperature is milder than that of Guayaquil or even 
Tumbez—the thermometer rarely reaching 85° Fah’t; and usual¬ 
ly standing at from 59° to 63° through the night, and from 67° 
to 78° during the day. 

Although so near the Equator, the S. E. Trades blowing fresh 
from the ocean for ten months, and north-westerly winds for the 
balance of the year, moderate the temperature to an agreeable 
coolness, and render the climate decidedly healthy. 

The Coast Line is tortuous and has a general direction of S. 
by W., beginning at Punto de Malpelo which forms the southern 
boundary of Tumbez Bay. From Malpelo Point to Charau it 
presents the low, flat coast of Tumbez Valley. At La Cruz, near 
Charag, there is a point projecting into the sea, another at Mai 
Paso Grande which forms with Mai Paso Chico an indifferent 
anchorage: the water is deep enough, but the small bay is some¬ 
what exposed to south-westers, and more so to northers. 

The next point forms the northern, as Punt/ de Zorritos does /' 
the southern boundary of the Bay of Zorritos—a good harbor, 
where a ship can lie within a thousand feet of shore, in five fath¬ 
oms, at low water. The next point of importance is Pun / de los 
Picos, at the south of “ Boca de Paff” another good harbor, and 
much frequented by vessels loading fire-wood for the Lima 
market. 


Immediately north of Cape Blanco is the next bay and harbor 


of importance, that of Mancora, which is well protected and 
adjacent to Cana Dulce, a locality of much interest to the Com¬ 
pany on account of its “Brea” mines and heavy Petroleum. 

When your Superintendent first landed at Mancora to examine 
these mines, he found a ship of a thousand tons in the harbor 
loading with fire-wood. 

This whole region is rough, undulating and hilly. The hills 
crowd down almost to high-water mark, and increase in eleva¬ 
tion, interspersed with valleys and “quebradas” from the shore 
to the Cordillera. 

Following up the Tuciyal Valley the grade was roughly esti¬ 
mated at one hundred feet to the mile; this would doubtless in¬ 
crease rapidly after passing th q foot hills. 

The surface is covered with variegated clays, green sands and 
fossiliferous conglomerates, consisting of gravel, pebbles and 
boulders, cemented together with lime or ferruginous clay or sand. 
From Mai Paso Grande, for more than a league to the south, 
the sea has encroached upon the hills, undermining them, so that 
in many places, they present a nearly perpendicular wall, exhibit¬ 
ing a sectional face of from 60 to 120 feet. The strata exposed 
by these cliffs, as well as by the “quebradas,” where the torrent 
of the rainy season has cut away the hill-sides sometimes to the 
depth of from 60 to 80 feet, are for the most part variegated clays, 
red, white, yellow, purple, blue, green and brown; blue, red and 
brown clay shales; dull-colored, friable sand-stones, that readily 
disintegrate; 'plates and layers of gyjpsum interspersed between 
the layers of brown shale; beautiful specimens of selenite and 
clay iron ore, concretions of argillaceous and ferruginous sand¬ 
stone, globular and ovoidal, of from one to five feet in diameter 
(found in the Valley of Tuciyal); fossiliferous lime rock, some¬ 
times crystallized; brown coal or lignite, as at Mai Paso Grande, 
where it crops out in a seam 18 inches thick, between the layers 
of brown shale; bituminous shale exhibiting specks of alum as a 
white powder; and sometimes layers of what appear to have been 
beach sand. Mr. A. E. Prentice, Civil Engineer of the Peruvian 
Government, says in his report upon this section : 

“ With the exception of the veins of calcareous sand-stone found near the sur¬ 
face, and an occasional fragment of a large marine bivalve in the grey sand, very 


little lime is found until reaching a depth of from 70 to 80 feet, where it appears 
to change into, or alternate with strata of very compact, dry and indurated 
marl, of the same blueish grey color, with specks of carbonate of lime. The 
boring was stopped in this marly shale at 79 ft. 6 in. below the surface. It was 
subsequently ascertained that at Caritos, about ten leagues to the south, (S. E.,) 
in a district presenting the same external features, a well had been sunk to up¬ 
wards of 250 feet, in indurated marl of the same description—which at a depth 
of 300 feet changed to a very compact, close grained, dark-grey (almost black) 
clay slate. The only other circumstances worth mentioning are the brine and 
brackish water springs, found every two or three leagues along the coast. A con¬ 
siderable deposit of rock salt which is fouud close to the surface at “Boca de Pau” 
two leagues to the S. W. A few leagues to the north-east of Zorritos, the hills 
assume a yellowish white appearance, and on the tops of some of these I have 
found deposits of conchoidal nodules of home stone, or rather opaque, gilicious 
stone, resembling flint, yellowish white on the outside, and dark brown inside, 
imbedded in a light-colored pulverulent marl.” 

The general appearance of the coast from the sea, as you sail 
along the shore, is exceedingly barren and forbidding; but this 
aspect is somewhat relieved on a nearer view by the beautifully 
variegated colors which the hills present from their argillaceous 
deposits—sometimes yellow, then red and green, blue and violet 
or brown, as one or another clay predominates. During the win¬ 
ter season, for several months, the valleys are covered with 
grasses, wild flowers and a rich verdure, which creeps far up the 
hill-sides, presenting a refreshing and delightful aspect. 

No fresh water is found near the shore, from the Tumbez River 
to the Chira at Col an. . A little to the north of Paita, More to the 
interior, the country is scantily watered, and susceptible of culti¬ 
vation in the valleys, while the hills and mountains furnish rich 
pasturage. 

Nearly all the valleys and many of the hills in the interior are 
wooded, indeed for many years, the “Hacienda de Mancora” has 
furnished a considerable portion of the fire-wood consumed in 
Lima. Algaroba is the principal wood, and resembles our honey 
locust, while harder and heavier; it is a bastard vanilla, produc¬ 
ing a bean very nutritious and fattening to cattle. The wood has 
almost the gravity of water, very hard and of a dark brown color. 
There can be no better wood for steaming; it is better than dry 
hickory, making a hotter fire and burning longer. Placed beside 
the portable engine, this fuel costs six dollars per cord, and there 
is an abundance of it to develop the entire estate. 


9 


Your Superintendent having no facilities for properly examin¬ 
ing and classifying the fossils discovered in sinking well No. 3, 
gives the following geological sketches with some hesitation, and 
wishes to remark, that he may find it necessary at a future day 
to correct some of the conclusions here expressed. It is doubtful 
whether any epoch of the carboniferous period is represented at 
all, and if not, the tertiary rests upon the upper Devonian: 

GEOLOGICAL CHARACTER. 

The western chain of the Cordilleras, taking the “Vulcande 
ShngajA as a point of departure, trends rapidly to the westward, 
till a little to the S. W. of Cuenca, it approaches to the Pacific 
coast, here less than a hundred miles distant. This chain then 
pending to the south, follows the coast-line throughout almost the 
entire extent of Peru and Chili, leaving a narrow strip of lower 
lands at its base. The geological formation of the Cordilleras is 
mostly primary—granitic and porphuritic rocks. Gold is found 
near Cuenca on both slopes, in the sands of the streams and in 
the quartz veins. 

On the surface of the upheaved and almost perpendicular cliffs 
at “Mai Paso Grande,” are found beds of oyster shells, belonging 
to existing species, varying from two to four feet in thickness, ag¬ 
glutinated into a coarse shell rock. Thin layers of lignites, 
green sandy pearls, and other remains of the eocene epoch of the 
tertiary period are found at intervals, for sixty miles along the 
coast to the south, and extending inland, as far as has been ob¬ 
served, from two to seven leagues. 

Immediately subjacent to these relics of the tertiary period, are 
found what appear to be the shales, sand-stones and lime rock of 
the sub carboniferous and upper Devonian periods. 

The Petroleoferous rocks of the region under consideration 
seem to be the chlorite, sand-stones, which are mostly saturated 
with Oil, and the brown shales very friable, and whose layers are 
so loosely compacted as to admit the Oil to be forced through the 
fissures thus presented. It is where this rock has been exposed 
by the attrition of the sea, that the Oil trickles out at low tide. 

This outcrop of Petroleum is first observed at “Mai Paso 
Chico,” and it can be traced, at intervals, to Cape Blanco, a dis- 


10 


tance of more than thirty leagues. A good example of Oil crop¬ 
ping out in sand rock is seen at a distance of two and half leagues 
from the sea, up the “Valle de Tuciyal,” at a point marked upon 
the accompanying map. A subsequent reference will be made to 
the richness of the vein here indicated. The extent of the 
Petroleoferous rocks comprehends an area of twenty leagues by 
seven, from “Mai Paso” to “Cana Dulce,” making 140 square 
leagues, or 806,400 acres. This does not include the region near 
Cape Blanco, which has not yet been examined. 

HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF PETROLEUM ON 

THE ESTATE OF MANCORA. 

For many years mines of Brea, Alquitran, Cope or Asphaltum, 
as the material has been variously denominated, have been known 
to exist, and have been worked at various points along the west 
coast of South America, in Chili, Peru and Ecuador. This Brea 
exists at Punta Santa Helena, in Ecuador, and at Cana Dulce, in 
the estate of Mancora, in two forms: on the surface it is the 
“Brea Piedra,” Asphaltum—hard, of a lustrous surface where 
broken—a dark-brown color and conchoidal fracture. Below the 
surface, at various depths, there exudes from sides of pits, ex¬ 
cavated for the purpose of collecting it, a black mineral tar, of a 
strong pitchy odor, iridescent, readily igniting and burning with 
a red smoky flame until entirely consumed-. This is the “ Brea 
Liquida,” or Liquid Asphaltum, and is melted with the “ Brea 
Piedra ” to make a pitch for smearing the inner surface of Pisco 
jars and potijas, for the native wine and rum. This pitch, when 
thus prepared, is sold at from $25 to $30 per quintal, according 
to its quality. A Brea mine was opened several years ago by the 
proprietor of the estate of Mancora, at Cana Dulce, for the manu¬ 
facture of Alquitran. As the outcrop of Petroleum, believed 
then to be the same with “ Brea Liquida,” had been observed on 
the shore from Cape Blanco to Mai Paso, the proprietor, in com¬ 
pany with several other gentlemen, determined to open a “ Brea 
mine ” at Zorritos, where the outcrop seemed to indicate a large / 
quantity of the material. A Scotchman, by the name of Fanier, 
took charge of this business, and commenced at Zorritos, where he 
opened some eight pits, varying from 20 to 30 feet in length, 7 to 


11 


15 in width, and sunk to a depth of from 17 to 30 feet. In most 
■of these a surface Petroleum was obtained of a gravity varying 
from 910° to 925°, and in quantities varying from one to five 
buckets per day, from each pozo or pit. 

It was found, however, that this Petroleum would not answer 
the purpose for which it was sought. As there was no Asphal- 
tum or “ Brea Piedra ” in the vicinity, it would be necessary to 
evaporate the Petroleum until reduced to a thick tar; but the 
result proved to be entirely incommensurate with the labor and 
expense, as but a mere residue of tar was left, nearly the whole 
volume of Petroleum disappearing by evaporation. As there 
seemed to be no other use for the Petroleum, after considerable 
expense, with no remuneration, the enterprise was finally aban¬ 
doned. In 1863, Mr. Alexander Ruden, of Paita, for many years 
the commercial agent of the estate of Mancora, and interested in 
the previous experiment, petitioned the Peruvian government to 
send Mr. A. E. Prentice, Government Civil Engineer, to examine 
the Petroleum mines of Mancora. 

This time the -object was to extract Petroleum , and the pro¬ 
prietor, with Mr. Ruden and several other gentlemen, proposed 
to form a company for that purpose. In accordance with Mr. 
Ruden’s petition, Mr. Prentice was appointed on the 22d of Sep¬ 
tember, and proceeded to Mancora, where he collected “ peones ” 
and materials for work, and commenced operations October 30th. 

Fahier, after having abandoned the idea of making Alquitran, 
had collected and shipped to the Lima Gas Company about one 
hundred barrels of oil, to determine whether gas could be made 
from it more economically than from coal. Mr. Prentice was 
also engineer of the gas company, and it was hoped that the 
experiment would prove successful, and thus all the gas compa¬ 
nies on the coast become purchasers of Petroleum. Mr. Prentice 
proceeded to open anew the “ pozos ” made by Fanier, and also, 
on the 2d of November, commenced boring a well from the bot¬ 
tom of “pozo ” No. 4, which at that time contained 36 gallons of 
Petroleum of 900° gravity. The boring was continued with very 
imperfect tools and various success, until about the middle of 
November, when the well had reached to 79 feet 6 inches below 
the natural surface, and about 60 feet below the level of the sea. 


12 


The oil taken from this well stood at 842°—thermometer at 84°. 
While engaged in this enterprise 7 Mr. Prentice examined this, 
section of the estate as thoroughly as the circumstances per- 
mited, and gave the following General Opinion on its Petro- 
leoferous character: 

“ The superficial deposits from which the oil has hitherto been taken appear to he 
only the overflowings of large subterranean deposits, which not being able to come 
directly to the surface, on account of the impermeable nature of the immediately 
subjacent strata, only at present find an outlet by taking a circuitous or zigzag 
course, or by following the thinning out of these impermeable strata , until meeting 
with the upper and more permeable beds of sand and loam. At Zorritos, where 
the wells were dug, these permeable beds are still covered by about 15 feet of 
impermeable variegated clays, which may account for the more liquid state of 
the oil found there, as compared with that found at the “ Brea,” (Cana Dulce) 
about 20 leagues distant south of Zorritos, and about 12 (7) leagues distant from 
the coast, where the oil bearing strata coming to the surface, the more liquid or 
volatile parts appear to have dried up or evaporated, leaving behind the thick 
tarry part, which is there collected into shallow trenches and boiled down to be 
sold as pitch. The beds of sandy loam from which the oil is taken being only 
slightly permeable—that is, only allowing the oil to filter or travel horizontally 
through it (1) at a very slow rate, only a very small continuous supply can be 
expected from it. After the small local accumulations around each well has been 
diained, still it is not likely to cease altogether for a very long time. If these, 
instead of having been made on the shore, where the oil bearing strata crops out 
between high and low water mark, (which was the circumstance which first drew 
attention to the spot,) had been made a little way inland, the probability is that 
a better supply would have been found. The wells or pits dug at Zorritos were 
made uselessly large—24 to 36 feet and from 6 to 13 feet wide—so that the cost 
of the oil taken therefrom can form no criterion as to what its extraction would 
cost if the pits were made in a more economical and systematic manner. I have 
no doubt but that a very considerable supply might be obtained, although only 
counting upon the superficial strata at from one-fifth to one-fourth the former 
outlay. I also think that there is a considerable probability of finding a large 
continuous supply by persevering with the boring, even although the first few 
trials should not prove successful.” 

Two and a half leagues from the coast up the Tuciyal, where 
the oil bearing sand rock crops out as before described, a pozo 
was opened by Fauier, seven feet square on the surface, and on 
reaching a depth of 28 feet the Petroleum bubbled up like a boiling 
spring, the oil rising to 10 feet 6 inches from the bottom in a few 
hours, at which depth it stood when examined by Mr. Prentice, 
November 1st, 1863. This is probably the best surface show of 
Petroleum ever discovered. Mr. Prentices report not proving so 



IS 


favorable as was desired for obtaining large results without in¬ 
volving considerable capital, the organization of the company was 
never perfected, and nothing more was done with the Mancora 
Petroleum lands until September of the following year (1864), 
when a more careful survey of the land and a rough map of the 
coast at Zorritos and of Cana Dulce were made by your Superin¬ 
tendent. During the previous examinations and experiments, 
Mr. Buden had sent specimens of the crude Petroleum both to 
England and the United States for analysis. 

These analyses had proved very favorable, giving a small per 
centage of Benzine and but little residuum, while the illuminating 
oil amounted to about 70 per cent., and the lubricating oil to 
about 15 per cent., leaving only 15 per cent, for gasses, Benzine 
and residua. The analysis and specimens of the refined oil were 
obtained, and new specimens of the oil, collected and sealed up at 
the wells, were forwarded to New York for a fresh analysis, which 
was made, and fully confirmed the excellent character given to 
this Petroleum by the former analyses. Minutes of a contract 
were agreed to by Don Diego Lama, the proprietor of the estate* 
of a sufficiently favorable character to warrant the organization 
of a company. 

The more important considerations which led to the organiza¬ 
tion of the Compania Peruana de Petroleo were doubtless the 
following: 

First .—Petroleum had been found in considerable quantity, 
and the extent and geological character of the territory seemed 
to indicate the existence of large quantities and reservoirs in 
store, waiting to be developed and utilized by enterprise and 
capital. 

There is one geological characteristic which has been reserved 
for present consideration, and that is the Dip of the Rock. Nu¬ 
merous volcanic disturbances have here and there bent and dis¬ 
torted the strata in almost every direction, but for leagues along 
the coast, and in every “quebrada” inland, the strata are seen to 
dip uniformly, when otherwise undisturbed, to the south-east, at 
an angle varying in different localities from 15° to 40°. 

As the strata are tilted up towards the coast, and under the sea, 
their edges, exposed by removal of the debris, furnish the remark- 


i4 


able outcrop of Petroleum before mentioned, and, what is of more 
importance, prove that it must have come from a great depth , 
pressed up between the strata to the surface by its accompanying 
gasses. Thus, it was observed in all the pits that were dug that 
the Petroleum flowed in from the lower, or south-east side; and 
by taking the outcrop upon the shore and tracing it, according to 
the angle of the dip, back along the strata to a well, it was found 
that the depth at which the vein would be struck could be calcu¬ 
lated with great precision. 

Second. —Peru, where the territory is located, furnishes a ready 
home market for a large quantity of refined Petroleum. 

In March, 1861, the first gallon of refined Petroleum intro¬ 
duced into the country for public use was exposed for sale in the 
city of Callao; and now the annual consumption reaches to a 
million of gallons, and if Chili and Ecuador be included, it will 
increase the amount to a million and a half. All this is brought 
from the United States, and has to pay a revenue duty, amounting 
in Peru to twenty-five cents per gallon. The amount of the arti¬ 
cle consumed is rapidly increasing, and this would no doubt con¬ 
tinue for several years could the price be reduced so as to extend 
its use to the poorer classes. Australia is within forty-five days 
by sail, with the constant south-east trades for the return passage 
as well. The Australasian British colonies consume more than 
three millions gallons of refined Petroleum annually, almost all 
of which is imported from the United States. 

Third. —To say nothing of California and Oregon, which are 
convenient markets should they not succeed in supplying their 
own Petroleum, it is a principal consideration that this territory 
lies stretched for ninety miles along a coast indented with good 
harbors, where the Petroleum can be produced and shipped at the 
least possible expense. The wells already sunk are within 200 
feet of high water mark, thus avoiding all expense of land car¬ 
riage, so that the oil produced by these wells, or any others 
similarly located on the coast, can be furnished to the London or 
Liverpool market for less than half the expense of the Pennsyl¬ 
vania oil. This fact opens the European markets to the products 
of this territory. The company has been assured that, as soon as 
a constant supply of oil can be produced to warrant the under- 


15 


taking, a line of iron skips, with large iron tanks to carry the oil 
in bulk, will be built for this trade. Such were the considerations 
on which the company was organized. Two points remained to 
be settled by actual experiment upon the ground to warrant the 
expenditure of the large capital necessary for the development of 
the territory—the cost of producing the oil, and the quantity that 
could be obtained. In order to settle these questions, a prospecting 
party were sent out from New York, in August, 1865, with a single 
engine and two sets of drilling tools. The party arrived in Sep¬ 
tember. Everything had to be made and prepared de novo. The 
party lived under an old shed upon the beach until the men’s 
quarters and store house could be built; then grounds were 
leveled, derrick built, and on the 30th of October drilling com¬ 
menced. Various strata of clay shales, sand stones, and conglo¬ 
merates, varying from three inches to two feet in thickness, were 
passed through down to 56 feet 6 inches, where a small vein of 
salt water was struck, and at 70 feet, in loose conglomerate, the 
first considerable vein of oil and gas was met with. In the alter¬ 
nate layers of sand shale and conglomerate, small veins of oil 
continued to be encountered every few feet. These were not 
crevices, but like the small veins found in sinking a well for water. 
From 107 to 114 feet the gas and oil improved rapidly, and it 
was thought best to tube and test the well. Tubing was accord- 
ngly put down to 111 feet, and, after exhausting the water, the 
well pumped at the rate of a little more than two barrels per 
hour for forty hours; but as no tankage had been prepared in 
advance, it was thought best to sink the well deeper, with the 
hope of finding a large crevice and a flowing well. It would be 
difficult to say how many good wells have been spoiled by not let¬ 
ting well enough alone. At 190 feet a mud vein was struck, 
which filled the well to within 70 feet of the surface, and so No. 1 
was lost. Well No. 2 was commenced about the 20th of Decem¬ 
ber, and passed down through a somewhat firmer rock, although 
of the same general character, excepting that but little conglo¬ 
merate was found. The same oil bearing strata were encountered 
as in No. 1. 

No oil was found between 110 and 160 feet, but from 160 to 
185 feet there was a good show. At 185 feet, the rock growing 


16 


soft, drilling was suspended and the well tubed to 177 feet. No. 
2 has pumped and flowed alternately ever since, averaging about 
25 barrels per day. It has not diminished in quantity, and it is 
only necessary to pump it 2 hours daily. 

Well No. 2 was put down at a distance of about 100 feet from 
No. 1, and No. 3 was commenced at 113 feet from No. 2, along 
the coast line. In this well the upper veins were more abundant, 
and at 56 feet, four barrels a day could be dipped off regularly 
with the sand pump. From 56 feet to 132 feet no oil was found; 
but from 132 feet to 422 feet a good show of oil and gas was 
almost constantly met. 

From 422 to 463 feet hard lime rock was encountered, gra¬ 
dually growing softer and more argillaceous, and finally changing 
to a loose bituminous shale, with an excellent show of gas and oil. 
This continued, gradually increasing to 526 feet, where an oil 
crevice of a foot in depth was struck. The well was put down 
to 531 feet and then tubed and tested. 

It proved a great misfortune that the only spare pump barrel 
was seriously damaged by being bulged in the middle; the pack¬ 
ing that fitted the middle of the barrel was too tight for the ends 
and would strip off, and when properly packed for the ends, it 
was too loose for the middle. There were no facilities at hand to 
remedy this defect satisfactorily; but after drawing tubing five 
times, the pump worked indifferently for several hours with the 
following result: Four hours were spent in exhausting mud and 
water when the well commenced pumping and flowing Oil, at the 
rate of 480 barrels per day; this continued until the packing 
came off and stopped everything. In drawing tubing, at 250 feet 
from the bottom, the bore-chip, which caused the diffculty, shook 
loose, and the well commenced flowing in a stream the full size of 
a two inch pipe, which continued, although the seed bag had been 
drawn, until the last length of tubing was withdrawn from the 
well. 

After the tubing had been removed, it was determined to drill 
the well to 550 feet, to allow ample space for the chips and debris 
of boring to settle below the crevice. In attempting to accom¬ 
plish this object, the tools became fast in the well, and every effort 
to remove them has thus far proved unsuccessful. 


17 


Well No. 4 has been commenced a short distance from No. 3, 
and was down to 109 feet Oct. 27, with a show of Oil and Gas, 
corresponding thus far with No. 3. The accident to No. 3 disap¬ 
pointed the expectations, but did not discourage the efforts of the 
Company. 

The results of the last year’s prospecting have convinced the 
Company of the great extent and permanency of the Petroleum 
deposits, and that wells can be bored and pumped as cheaply on 
the estate of Mancora as in Venango Co., Pennsylvania, while 
extensive markets are waiting to purchase the Oil as soon as 
produced. 

With these views the Company has secured the services of Mr. 
Geo. E. Corey, (a man of extensive experience in putting down 
wells in Pennsylvania, and under whose supervision, as chief 
borer, the prospecting of the last year was conducted), and has 
supplied a corps of experienced workmen. 

Three additional engines have been purchased, a small steamer 
built for supplying water and provisions to the works, and a bulk 
boat for loading and discharging cargo; also, 8,000 barrels of 
iron tankage and all tubing and machinery necessary to secure 
the complete success of the enterprise have been provided. 

The Mancora Oil territory has been carefully examined by men 
familiar with the Pennsylvania Oil lands. Mr. Corey has sunk 
successfully more than sixty wells in the best Oil lands in the 
United States, and your Superintendent made a careful examin¬ 
ation of the Oil Creek territory before, securing the contract for the 
Mancora estate; and it is his deliberate opinion, as well as that 
of Mr. Corey and of every other practical man who is thoroughly 
acquainted with both localities, that were both to-day virgin ter¬ 
ritories—untouched by the drill, the Mancora estate has a better 
show, a greater extent, a more favorable location to supply the 
great marts of the ivorld, and a better prospect for a large and 
constant yield of Oil, than the entire Pennsylvania Oil Region. 
It only remains to demonstrate the correctness of these views by 
the actual development of the P. P. Co.’s Oil Lands. 


18 


It is confidently hoped that before the time for another annual 
report shall arrive, your Superintendent will be able to lay before 
you results that shall satisfy every reasonable expectation. 

I have the honor to be, 

Very respectfully, 

Your obed’t servant, 

E. P. LARKIN, 

General Supt. 



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